Many true stories of the Old West

Many true stories of the Old West. My family lived it. 

By Stan Ellefson 

I hope these photos illustrate Stan's words and are, I imagine, the reflection of a forgotten reality

In the mid 60's they were a couple of cowboys living in my neighborhood in San Diego. They were living with their great grand children. One of them was like 96, or 97 and in 1965 could still remember seeing some Buffalo in Texas. He came from Germany when he was 5 and grew up on a small ranch in Texas. He was luckier than most because his father owned the small ranch. His last name was Longenecker. My Grandfather was born in 1898 and grew up on a family ranch in Oklahoma. He was born during a blinding prarie blizzard.. The doctor couldn't get to their ranch for some hours, but everything turned out just fine. The life of a Cowboy was a hard one. Drifting from one job, to another, or settling down and marrying the bosses daughter. My great grandfather Hall's  family had land, horses and cattle, so when he married into the Morris family it was considered a good match. My Grandfather broke the mold by joining the Army at the age of 16. He always said that Army life was easier than Ranch life. A Cowboy definitely had skills, but if he got in trouble somewhere he could easily move on and change his name.

The Morris ranch is still owned by some distant cousins, but I don't know if they still keep horses and cattle. 

My friend Stan is an operator/Pilot of BMW motorcycles. Holder of 500,000 mile BMW award, aviation structural mechanic at USCG, ALC (Aviation Logistics Center) (Depot level maint.) and aviation structural mechanic at Lear Seigler